RDP from VPN to one particular machine stopped working

Question

I've been connecting to my work PC from home via a VPN and RDP for the past few years. A few days ago, my work PC suddenly became invisible from outside the network, even when connected to the VPN.

It gets as far as "Initiating Remote Connection...", then stops with:

Remote Desktop can't find the computer "BLAH". This might mean that "BLAH" does not belong to the specified network. Verify the computer name and domain that you are trying to connect to.

However, I am able to RDP into another machine on the network, and from there, RDP again into my work PC.

I also can't connect to the machine via Explorer or pinging. It just thinks it's not on the network, which I can obviously access since the server is up, and they're on the same network.

Essentially:

HOMEPC -> WORKPC // nope
HOMEPC -> SERVER -> WORKPC // works fine with RDP and Explorer

So, I know the machine is up, and my credentials are fine. I've run Windows Update and restarted both my home and work PCs, but still, no luck. I've got the sysadmins looking into it as well, but haven't heard anything back in nearly a week, and I'd rather not tie up one of the few free RDP slots on the server.

If it helps any, both my home and work PCs are fully-updated versions of Windows 7 Pro, and the server I'm able to connect through is Windows Server 2003.

Answer 1

Make sure when you go into Network Sharing Center on your work PC, i.e. Control Panel\Network and Internet\Network and Sharing Center, your 'Active Network' is your domain network. If you have 'Public' and 'Unauthenticated', your PC will most likely need to be rejoined to the domain. Also make sure 'Network Sharing' is turned on when you go to 'Start > Computer > Network (left hand side) and you can see other computers/servers/devices on the network.

Your home PC could be the issue here too. Try recreating the VPN on your home PC.